Dragon Age: Dreadwolf's Skill Tree Detailed In Latest Community Update

BioWare's latest Dragon Age: Dreadwolf community update dives deep into the creation of the upcoming RPG's skill tree, with BioWare detailing its philosophy behind the system and how the game's various designers help bring it to life in-game.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf's skill tree is designed so that unlocking each new node "feels meaningful" and grants "significant power gains," BioWare states in the blog. A variety of different nodes in the skill tree are there to provide more than simple stat boosts. Additionally, BioWare doesn't want any node in the skill tree to feel like a largely useless stepping stone to get to a "real" node, instead pushing for each node to be powerful and impactful in its own right.

BioWare's goal is to make the skill tree easy to navigate and easy to explore, so players can make a plan on how to build their character. That includes making it clear how many skill points players have to work with and making sure the nodes themselves are easy to understand, with clear descriptions or a video showing a node's effects where needed.

The rest of the blog dives into the role of UX designers in bringing the vision of the skill tree to life in-game. Though the finalized design of the skill tree isn't revealed in the blog post, UX designer Bruno Porrio states that the goal was to deliver on the fantasy of playing a certain class and all the options available at a glance "without overwhelming the player."

A key goal for the team was to "making something that is usually complex and make it accessible and simple to read." Even with the initial design finalized and the skill tree implemented in-game, the work still isn't done, as technical UX designers then step in to tweak aspects of the design in order to "find the right balance between the designer's vision and the player experience."

Originally announced in 2018, and given an official name in June 2022, BioWare declared Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was fully playable from start to finish back in October 2022. A recent report indicated the highly-anticipated RPG might not release this year, even as leaked gameplay footage has given fans a glimpse at the game's more action-oriented combat.